Last Week 6/8 Season
Total 13/19
I took my own advice and took a trip to the
West Coast on the weekend with Family in tow.
It was a lovely getaway. Of
course, it means I didn’t see and barely heard any of the weekends footy
action. I did visit an aquarium sunken
into the bottom of a jetty though. There
wasn’t much wildlife that day, but I did note a door at the bottom that said,
“in case of fire, open door.” I couldn’t
see anything on the other side of the door other than the entire Indian Ocean, which I suppose after opening would resolve
the fire issue. Then you have a raft of
other issues like breathing and being in an environment that news outlets would
have you believe is teeming with Great Whites with about a 1 mile swim ahead of
you. Luckily there was no fire, and I
solved my anxious heartbeat with a dousing of beer at a local brewery. The family summed it up as a “Good day had by
some.”
I couldn’t help but feel the pinch of cost
of living when in a vacation town. One
day we had breakfast, and it cost more than breakfast, lunch and dinner the
next day. It wasn’t terribly fancy
either, but was full of wholesome, organic and healthy items which I watched
with much angst as my kids pushed them around the plate until they were
inedible. C’est la vie, I guess. I’m
sure there’s footy on this week…let’s take a look.
Essendon vs Port Adelaide Marvel Stadium Thursday Night
Needless to say, Essendon need a win to
validate their off-season trading of Stringer.
Port Adelaide got their win over Richmond after a stinging
rebuke during the week and they need to continually validate the succession
plan to prevent Hinkley’s early demise via death by a thousand media
articles. Port returns to the scene of
their round 1 crime, albeit a different oval which, given a forecast for clear,
radiant skies, perfect for football, will mean a closed roof. Unlike the MCG, Port has a very good record
at the Docklands and with a fleet of midfield speedsters, the flat, fast track
makes them difficult to catch. Essendon
would not like to start the season 0-3 as this stalls momentum and can prematurely
end your season, but unless Langford can get back on the park I can’t see how
they can kick enough goals (although 100 points against Adelaide was good –
just not when they kick 165). Port
Adelaide by 27
points.
Carlton vs
Footscray Marvel Stadium Friday Night
The Blues are another team suffering from
early season blunders to see them floundering winless near the bottom of the
ladder. Curnow was rushed back and was a
bit under-done and they are making some amateurish skill errors at crucial moments. Easily cleaned up, as any coach will tell
you. Footscray had their party pooped by
the Pies but put up a valiant effort in a match that was, according to many,
umpired poorly. There was lots of
colourful feedback online about the umpires and I think the consensus is their
performance was pretty lousy. But biased
is a stretch, even with a 33-16 free kick count. You can look at the tape, which I’m sure the
umpires do and have a more objective view.
The scoreboard will always make things look worse than they are. Not to worry though, as unbiased as the
umpires are, expect Footscray to get a more favourable run with the Whistle
this week…it just happens. I’m not sure
it will be enough to get up over a fired up Carlton though. Carlton
by 14 points.
Melbourne vs
Gold Coast MCG Saturday Afternoon
What happened to Melbourne on the weekend? I saw a score early on and it was a tight
contest which I just assumed Melbourne
would eventually win. Then later I saw
they got monstered to the tune of 10-goals in a final quarter blitz. They need to turn things around quickly but
come up against a Gold Coast team who have worked out how to win away from
home! Will coming off a bye hurt Gold
Coast or the fact that they’ve only played 1 match in the first 3 weeks of the
season? Alarm bells are ringing for the
D’s. Gold Coast by 21 points.
St Kilda vs Richmond Marvel
Stadium Saturday Afternoon
Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere…that’s
how I’d describe Saint Kilda’s blitz over Geelong. The Cats fought their way back in, but it was
too little too late. Richmond
went over to Adelaide
all cock-a-hoop but left with their Tiger tails between their legs. It’s lucky for us tipsters too as I don’t
think I could cope if Richmond
were pinching a few wins. Saint
Kilda by 35 points.
Hawthorn vs GWS York
Park Saturday Night
I know technically that Adelaide is between them, but this is a
ridgee-didge top of the table clash between two titans of 2025. It’s a shame that it’s at York Park. GWS’s record there is two losses, 1 win and a
draw, but their win was against Sydney. But the margin between these two at York was just a solitary
goal last year and this will be a much anticipated contest. The lifetime record between the two is also
well poised with GWS winning 8 of 16 (7 losses and that one draw). I can’t wait to watch this one but have no
idea who to tip. Time to bring out the
magic coin. Hawthorn by 1 point.
Brisbane vs Geelong Gabba Saturday
Night
I debated whether or not to just copy and
paste my Round 0 preview here. Afterall,
it was already written as this was one of the cyclone affected matches. It’s been slotted in here effectively
un-bye-ing these two teams. Now we know
a bit more about them we can make a better judgement call. Brisbane were jumped by a youthful West Coast
before righting the ship and Geelong were jumped by the Saints but couldn’t
bale enough water to fully right the ship…it was still listing a little at the
end. Geelong,
when they’re working effectively, have been moving the ball with great speed
and efficiency which could trouble Brisbane, but
the Gabba gives a good advantage to Brisbane. I’m tempted to go Geelong
on this one as they have a decent enough record against Brisbane to unsettle them. But early season is not the time for
desperate measures. Brisbane by 9 points.
Adelaide vs North Melbourne Adelaide Oval Sunday Afternoon
Both of these teams are coming off dishing
out 10-goal thumping’s. It’s been a
rarity in recent times to write a preview where I’m giving North
Melbourne a chance…oh, wait, it’s at Adelaide Oval. Adelaide
by 32 points.
West Coast vs Fremantle Perth Stadium Sunday
Twilight
This is probably not what WA imagined at
the start of the year. Two winless sides
facing off in a bottom of table clash…a Derby
if you will. For many years the WA
public talk about seceding from Australia
in general. “See how those bastards cope
without our minerals,” they’d say. Right
now, it might be a pretty good idea as this Derby would turn into a top of the table
clash. It’s not a straight forward event
either with West Coast putting on a bit of a showing and Fremantle looking a
bit shaky. I do feel sorry for Harley
Reid though. When your talent is that
much more elevated than the rest of the team, you’re going to get targeted and
the exuberance of youth will have you pointing fingers skyward often. I remember not being very mature when I was
that age. Hell, I’m still not that very
mature! This is an isolated fixture and
will be played in heat worse than the Suns Carona. I don’t envy the players in this one, but it
will be an enthralling contest that everyone should enjoy. I think Fremantle are slightly ahead of West
Coast on this one, but the reverse wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Fremantle by 12 points.
Byes:
Collingwood, Sydney
The Swans will be thankful for finally
making the winners circle and Collingwood, after losing Reef McInnes for the
season, have had their average age revised even higher. Old legs need frequent rests.
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